need2know: Flat local open ahead

Local stocks are poised to open little changed as a tech rally on Wall St faded almost as fast as it had begun.

What you need2know:

• SPI futures up 5 points to 5464

• AUD at 93.71 US cents, 95.22 Japanese yen, 67.71 Euro cents and 55.34 British pence.

• On Wall St, S&P500 -0.1%, Dow Jones +0.2%, Nasdaq -0.4%

• In Europe, Euro Stoxx 50 +1.4%, FTSE100 +0.6%, CAC +1.4%, DAX +0.9%

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• Spot gold slipped 0.1 per cent to $US1288.62 an ounce

• LME copper fell 1% to $US6655 a tonne

• Brent oil dropped 0.1% to $US107.99 per barrel

What’s on today

No local economic data is scheduled for release today.

Stocks to watch

Goodman Fielder: Wilmar International and First Pacific have said they will walk away from their $1.27 billion takeover offer if Goodman Fielder proceeds with a plan to sell its New Zealand dairy business.

Envestra: Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Infrastructure has emerged as a last-minute counter-bidder to APA Group for Envestra, just days before shareholders were due to vote on APA’s $2.1 billion scrip takeover offer.

Baosteel and Aurizon’s $1.42 billion lunge for Aquila Resources may be rejected within the week, fuelling hopes the Chinese-led consortium will return with a higher offer, The Australian Financial Review reports.

Currencies

The US dollar gained against the euro on Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank might act to stem falling inflation at its June meeting, erasing the dollar's earlier fall to a 2-1/2 year low.

The greenback was up 0.40 per cent against the Japanese yen at 101.45. The dollar was down 0.30 per cent against the Swiss franc to trade at 0.8790 francs.

The US dollar index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, gained 0.19 per cent to 79.35.

Commodities

Spot gold inched up in New York trade, though trading was listless.

“Bullion’s inability to break over the 50-day moving average of $US1315 an ounce may have led to liquidations by disappointed investors,” said James Steel, chief precious metals analyst at HSBC. “Weak prices near term may continue until geopolitical tensions or fresh physical buying halt losses.”

The metal’s ability to hold key technical support at its 100-day average near $US1285 triggered some buying, analysts said.

Origin Energy and Santos have downplayed fears of potential delays in production for billions of dollars worth of liquefied natural gas projects, saying their massive LNG facilities in Queensland are on track.

United States

US stocks mostly fell on Thursday with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closing lower, led by losses in the energy and utility sectors.

The US Federal Reserve is in no rush to decide the appropriate size of its balance sheet, but if it ultimately shrinks it to a pre-crisis size, the process could take the better part of a decade, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said.

Europe

European shares surged on Thursday, led by Italian and Spanish banks, after the European Central Bank opened the door to more stimulus measures in June.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index hit its highest level since June 2008 on speculation the ECB may cut interest rates next month, paving the way for further steps such as an asset-purchase programme.

The ECB, which is trying to counter the risk of excessively low inflation, kept its key rate on hold on Thursday. But president Mario Draghi said it "was comfortable" with the idea of acting in June, after the bank's staff forecasts are published.

Mining was the best-performing sector on Thursday, up 1.3 per cent, as a report from China’s National Bureau of statistics showed the world’s second largest economy produced a bigger than forecast trade surplus in April.